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Allegations
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Counties-Manukau Police
district commander Steve Shortland is a cop under seige. The barbarians have
been at the gate of his Otahuhu HQ since a guilty verdict on an assault charge
was returned against veteran South Auckland officer Anthony Solomona. To compound the
problem, that verdict has taken a back seat to evidence produced in court of
some bizarre police practices at the Wiri station during Solomona's tenure. These ranged from
coercing suspects into writing letters of apology to their victims - in one
case a police officer - to the photographing of suspects wearing demeaning
signs. The crowning indignity
was a posed photograph of a machete-wielding man, dressed in a police uniform
next to a sign reading "RIP to Section 4" - the Wiri-based
emergency response unit headed by Solomona. Unfortunately for
Shortland, he had to wait until the middle of the court case to learn that
the problem may have been bigger than one senior sergeant. "It first came out
when we looked into the activities of Solomona. "Then we came to
realise, from Sergeant [John] Nelson's comments, that it was widespread.
Then, of course, the antennae went up." To make matters worse,
District Court Judge Bruce Davidson tore into South Auckland police while
delivering his verdict. He condemned the photographs - which were not the
basis of any charge - as evidence of a "reasonably widespread"
police sub-culture "as sick as the joke". If it is as widespread
as Davidson believes, then police bosses want to know why. An investigation
has since been launched, with top brass vowing to weed out any rogue
officers. Shortland won't talk
about Solomona, or the specifics of the hearing (the matter is still before the
court as far as police are concerned), but he admits that every so often a
policeman emerges who will drag others into disrepute. "In every box
there's at least one bad apple. If that bad apple had a lot of experience in
the police and has a high rank, that guy is going to exert influence." Counties-Manukau is a
challenging district to police, he says, and its cops are among the freshest
in the country. The average length of service is 7.9 years, compared with
about 15 years for officers in Canterbury. It is also busy.
Counties-Manukau police - about 650 sworn officers - respond to about 15,000
priority one (111) calls each year. That's well ahead of Auckland Central and
North Shore-Waitakere on 11,500 each and far ahead of Wellington's 7800. It is also an area with
scores of ethnic groups, who live in a sprawling and often poor environment.
In the face of these statistics, is policing that could euphemistically be
described as outside the square that surprising? Solomona was found
guilty of assaulting a 17-year-old man at a Manurewa service station in
February last year. Prosecutors had argued that the assault came when
Solomona smashed Angelo Turner's head into the lights of his police car while
arresting him on a breach of the peace. But Davidson rejected
that theory, saying Solomona would have been better off apologising to Turner
for the accident rather than slapping the cuffs on him. That was not Solomona's
attitude. The 18-year veteran, who is married to Youth Court judge Ida Malosi,
liked to be more assertive than that. "My experience as a police officer
has shown that in situations where one person is quite vocal it is important
to act quickly." That is not an attitude
endorsed by Shortland, who believes many younger officers use humour and
tolerance to subdue potentially unruly members of the public. "Just because you
are a young cop in this area, it doesn't mean you are going to be taken in by
this type of behaviour." BUT Solomona's attitude
to policing may have some currency among older officers. As the six-day
hearing progressed, more evidence emerged of a police culture that included
among its rituals the humiliation of young suspects. One 16-year-old claimed
he had been photographed wearing a sign reading "I belong to Senior
Senior Solomona". Nelson told the court
the photographs were a joke, although the humour would be likely to appeal
only to police officers. "Can you tell me,
please, what is the joke about these types of pictures?" Crown
prosecutor Robert Fardell asked. "The humour would
not be understood by non-police officers," Nelson replied. "I don't
think I could explain the humour in two sentences." Fardell: "Well, no
one is asking you to explain it in two sentences, explain it as you
wish." Nelson then proceeded
to answer the question in one sentence. "It is a matter of
police culture, you get accustomed to it as your time in the police
increases." Nelson also made the
candid admission that he had not been concerned by the picture of the
16-year-old as "I wasn't supervising the [youth] matter". When asked if he had
seen such photos in other stations, he replied he had. That attitude has not
pleased Shortland. "I find it very
disappointing that a sergeant of police should see this type of behaviour and
not report it." Solomona also gave
evidence about that photograph. Though not amused by it, he could see how
such stunts came about. "I understand it,
I don't necessarily agree with it." He claimed the picture
was an example of a "coping mechanism" used by young officers
struggling with the "relentless stress and pressure" of daily
police life. That's a theory
Shortland dismisses as "complete rubbish". There are, he says, any
number of approved coping mechanisms for officers, including counselling. Solomona did admit to
getting a chuckle from the machete photograph, which was taken in front of
his locker by someone unknown. He considered that snap "quite
amusing". It sat on his desk for about two years before it was taken
from his notebook, again by "persons unknown". When asked what he
thinks are the underlying causes of behaviour such as that of section 4,
Auckland University law school senior lecturer Scott Optican draws a blank. "I have no theory.
No one has done any investigation into it." Optican believes an
investigation needs to be carried out at all levels of the police force to
determine whether such practices, and the attitudes that nurture them, are
the work of rogue cops or are fostered, albeit tacitly, from the top down.
"It might be the tree, or it might be the apples. It would be good to
find out." But that does not mean
Optican, a former New York City assistant district attorney turned criminal
procedure lecturer, doesn't hold his own opinions on the phenomenon. He
accepts, to an extent, evidence given in court that the axe-and-machete
photograph was an example of a police gallows humour that helps in dealing
with the stresses of the job. He used to indulge in
similar behaviour when he was a prosecutor. "I used to eat my
lunch and look at homicide pictures and laugh." But he is quick to
qualify that by saying no such behaviour is acceptable when - as in the case
of the photograph of the boy with the "I belong to Senior Sergeant
Solomona" sign - it leads to "unfit conduct" or to breaches of
another's rights under the Bill of Rights. "It is a joke if
it is self-regarding, if it involves you and your fellow officers. It is not
a joke when it starts to impede on the rights and freedoms of others." When practices
degenerate to that point, "it might be a cue to perf, like a lot of
them". Stressed cops could
"put on a skit at a show" or, more riskily perhaps, "make a
joke about a judge" to lower their stress levels, rather than take it
out on the innocent. Optican also agrees
with Davidson's ruling that Solomona's grounds for arresting the complainant
Turner were flimsy. Arrests for offences
such as disorderly behaviour and resisting - which he describes as the
"great rubber sheet" charges, presumably because they can cover a
range of indiscretions - are usually made simply because the suspect
"failed the attitude test". "At one level,
almost every act can be disorderly conduct." Section 4 no longer
exists in the form it did when Solomona was in charge. The section was
overhauled as part of a police restructuring in March last year, and the
emergency response unit now operates from four bases across the district. A new management
structure also exists, says Shortland. Instead of answering directly to the
district commander, senior sergeants must now report to one of four
inspectors. AN early intervention
programme has also been set up to identify officers who may need a little
guidance in their careers. But will all that be
enough to prevent a repeat of the goings-on at Wiri? Shortland hopes so, but
admits there is still the possibility of the wrong type of person making it
to the top, if they keep their noses clean on the way. "Any person can
still get to that [senior] position, if their behaviour and performance
issues have been resolved." The investigation into
Wiri will continue, which is just what Optican wants to hear. "Every
organisation has people who don't act properly within the given law.
Investigate it and ask yourself where the issues lie, and what it really
means." |
